>> flying in for the fiscal cliff deadline. barack obama scrambles to reach a deal on the national deficit. >> hello, you're watching "al jazeera" live from doha. here are the top stories now -- crisis in the central african republic. the president calls for international help to fight rebel forces. >> five years after bhutto's assassination. the son makes his debut.

>> u.s. lawmakers give thems a last chance to stop the falling off the fiscal cliff. it's no deal has been actually reached. budget cuts and tax hikes will tax place on january the 1st. >> president barack obama returned to washington deeply meyered in another partisan stalemate. but over in the capitol the lower house of congress remains dark to avert the fiscal cliff. it's republican leader will call the session on sunday. the top senate said his branch of congress must take the initiative on a compromise. >> it appears to me the action

if there is any is now on the senate and we will have to see if we're able on a bipartisan to move forward. >> but the democrats say there can be no deal without republican concessions on tax increases. >> unless we get a sign-off from the republicans in the house, we can't get anything done. for them to talk about a bipartisan arrangement, we have done that. >> without a deal, the mediate effect would billion a tax hike. relief checks to $2 million -- 2 million onamericans would also cut, possibly triggers another major u.s. recession. >> things that you don't really need, you're not going to get. >> it will probably affect my finances in a huge way. >> it will affect my dad. my dad's 76 and he's already got his food stamps cut and his

medicaid cut. i don't know how much more than can cut. >> half of all americans now expect no deal by new year's day. by a margin of 2-1 they hold the republicans more at fault than obama and his fellow democrats. >> earlier, i spoke to richard at campaign's for america's future that's a progressive political organization. he says it's unlikely that the u.s. will meet the deadline. >> it looks extremely unlikely at this point. they're not returning to the lower house until the day before the deadline. so chances are there won't be a deal before january 1st. but then most of the provisions of this so-calleded fiscal cliff won't have an immediate impact. several will but most will be delayed. so thile still have a chance to work in january. >> how is it going to be delayed?

because delay has been something that president obama and the democrats have rejected. >> the tax laws won't have an impact on people until they start paying their taxes in earnest. the effect of that will be very mild, very slight. and some of the spending cuts, the -- the executive branch has 30 days to present its plan for putting these cuts into effect so they may not even take effect. so a number of the -- most economists agree that the impact of the fiscal cliff would be severe if it lasted for a period of time with the assumption that they're able to roll it back retroactively. that would give them some time after the first comes around. >> there may be a little bit of a window to find the middle ground. but what is the middle ground after the failure that happened in the house of representatives? does anyone know what the threshold is that is accessible

to republicans, let alone to republicans and democrats. >> you know, part of the problem here is that i don't think that the republicans themselves are entirely sure what their own position is. there's quite a lot of anarchy. the president has offered a proposal that include some provisions that are very unpopular within his own party and don't pole well among voters. pothe parties are divided and it's not clear who it's speaking with authority for the republican side. so that is going to be a challenge in the next several weeks. >> that brings us to the next point as you mention among democrats. can obama reach a deal that both reprerves his campaign pledge of trying to avoid cuts that hurt the more vulnerable and have some sort of deal that avoids the fiscal cliff? >> well, see, there what you get

into is a matter of definition. obama for example is pushing the idea of cuts to the social security program for retirees and the disabled which a lot of people feel they're against their own campaign pledges. he argues that they're not. and that they're minor. it's going to be around definitions should that be on the table in january. >> death to has risen to 15. high winds and heavy snow left thousands without electricity. hundreds of flights have been canceled. the storm could dump as much as 46 inches of snow in some parts of the northeast. >> the president is urging france and the united states to help repel rebels advancing from the north. fighters began their counters last week.

but france already has 200 troops in the country. but it's refusing to use them to help the government. >> people there are calling for help. they want france to intervene, demonstrating outside the embassy. but no one can step in. >> generally speaking, ifer there, it's not to protect a regime but to protect our citizens and our interests. the rebels call themselves the coalition. they once belonged to armed groups that signed a peace accord in april 27, in exchange for financial support. five years later, the firefighters say the government has not honored the due they have been marriaging towards the

capital to meet their demands. >> the situation is calm because we've been through this cycle several times before. >> the firefighters have advanced rapidly since launching the current offensive on december the 10th. they've captured four capitals, including the mining hub and just on tuesday the western town. they're reportedly close to the capital city. fearing an all-out fight, many civilians have left their homes. >> they flee to their field which means -- fields, which means they go there without minimal water. dire conditions. the republic -- every individual

there is infected with malaria at least once a year. now workers are expressing concern. it is these people who will pay the price. >> the son of pakistan's former prime minister bhutto has made its debut. he addressed the crowd of thousands marking five years since his mother's death. benazir bhutto was killed after an election rally. >> more than 200,000 turned out looking to the past, present and future. three generations of pakistan's political dynasty. >> they remembered former president bhutto gunned down five years ago on thursday. her life mirrored her father's father's, dying a violent death. the crowd heard from her

husband, pakistan's current president. and they were introduced to the next generation her 24-year-old son who becomes the chairman of the pakistan people's party. [speaking foreign language] >> today, it is sad and a delightful day for me. i feel proud as the son of benazir bhutto's son, i want to tell you by the grace of god he has completed his studies but now this is his training time. >> this was his first major political speech. he memorized it because having memorized in dubai he's not fluent. >> my honorable mother was killed publically. thousands of workers have been murdered but we did not abandoned pakistan and would not abandon pakistan. don't leave benazir bhutto in the hands of tyrants.

two issues hung over this event one, who killed benazir bhutto? he did criticize pakistan's police and judges for failing to find the killers. the other issues is pakistan's spring election. >> he has ruled over the country for five years but failed to overcome the mizry of the poor. -- misery of the poor. >> cooperation, poverty and a battle with the nation's judges have all hurt the party. it will take more than nostalgia for it to win in the future. >> taliban fighters have kidnapped 22 policemen in northwest pakistan. around 200 gunman attacked and killing two officers an ink jurying -- injurying another

one. >> the taliban fights are set to have attacked three security ports which is the tribal police court on the outskirts the route for supplies. the attackers are said to have taken on these men as they sat on their porch destroying one security post and taking away those men. earlier, the political agent that confirmed up to 18 of the men were missing but later the authorities confirmed that 22 of those men were missing a americ

friday 7:00 eastern/4:00 pacific. >> welcome back. let's have a look at the headlines then, the u.s. house will hold an extraordinary session on sunday in hopes of making a deaf situation reduction deal.

the -- deficit reduction deal. the troops will protect the french people and not the government. >> the son of pakistan's booto -- bhutto launched his major career marking five years since his mother's assassination. >> neighbors chad has already deployed troops in after ca. their presence is detering the rebels from advancing in the capital. >> there are those the coalition called a select coalition of armed groups coming from the northern part of the country. they have been there for quite sometime. they signed a peace contract and

another last year. so those combatants have been in the northern part of the country. but just recently they launched that offensive because they managed to unite. this is the agreement according to the rebels were not implemented. they were supposed to get money and also to benefit from reinsertion programs. and apparently, it did not materialize. that's why they kept their weapons and and stayed in the territory. it controls 1/3 of the territory right now. it moves from the northern part of the country to the center of the country. but it is now stuck by the

deployment of the chadian army which is protecting the capital city. so at the moment we can say there is no immediate threat to the capital city by the rebels because i don't think they are ready to engage the chadian army. what we see here is -- they are hundreds of iedp's in cities controled by the rebels. but so far there is nothing major. we must keep in mind that the rebels' offensive started a few days ago. the demonstration may be a bit artificial. it has happened in the past in western africa when the government actually wanted to

get a report. this kind of demonstration does not express always the true feelings. >> syria's main opposition body says that any future transitional government has to exclude president assad. the national coalition was responding to the call for a transitional unity government. badahimi's suggestion was the same as in june. >> the government with full executive power is a very simple understandable statement which means that all the authority of the state should be possess bdity government. -- should billion possessed by the -- should be possessed by the government. parliamenttary if that was the agreement. >> the public prosecutor has

ordered an investigation. mouhammad, leaders of the opposition national salvation front, two lawyers complained about them after they kaled for anti-government protest. the public presidentor was appointed last month as part of the president's decree. the former president has been transferred to a military hospital from his prison cell. it's the second time the 84-year-old has been moved. he is serving a life sentence for not stopping the killing in 2011. mahmoud ahmadinejad has fired his health minister. he was the first woman to hold the post. she's criticized the government for not providing money to import medicine. iran is struggling to provide

medical supply due to sanctions imposed by the west. there are more women than ever in the u.s. army. after they're discharged they're just as likely as men to suffer disorders like post traumatic stress syndrome. female veterans are less likely to get the help they need. >> some days it's a struggle for the army soldier to put food on the table. she hasn't had a job since 2009. it didn't take long before her savings were exhausted. and she and her two daughters were left homeless. she said she was let down by the government she served. >> joining the military was really bad because before i left i was stable and ok. >> it wasn't until a trip to the emergency room at the manhattan's veteran's hospital that she finally found the help

that she needed. though the overwhelming majority are men, this room is exclusively for female veterans, 20% who say they have experienced sexual trauma. >> the government acknowledges the problem is even more widespread because so many women are afraid to report attacks especially while in active service. >> i felt very uncomfortable seeking any active duty for fear of retribution. i didn't want to get into it while i was there. >> once i bring it out in the open, they say to me i'm so appreciative that you mentioned this. nobody's ever asked me before. when i offer them counseling they jump at the chance. >> women in the military are just as likely as men to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. the source of their disorder is more likely to be sexual trauma than combat >> the government's veteran

affairs department insistss the adapting to better serve women. >> the v.a. has massive programs now make sure that there are women health programs in the hospital. each hospital has a women's health coordinator. but critics say the government needs to do more than provide a health coordinator since they have been linked to, suicide and homicide. >> needs have to be met immediately. and the longer the v.a. kicks the can down the road, the more the veterans are going to wind up in jail and dead. >> brenda is now in a new apartment. she's getting job training, counseling and a disability check. she knows to finally find help for her problems when so many others are still looking. >> russia's president says he'll sign a bill banning u.s.

citizens from don'ting children from his country. rights groups say, though, children in russia's crowded orphanage will find less of a chance to find a home. >> so far i see no reason not to sign it although i have to review the final text and weigh everything. in the world there are probably a lot of place where is the quality of life is better than here. but so what? are we going to move the children there? we need to do everything in our own country in order to provide for a worthy future for all of our children. >> a mass rally is being held in madrid over plans to cut 4,500 jobs in the spanish airlines. iberia includes british airways. the country says the

restructuring should boost profits over the next years. >> electricity bills are set to sore to pay for the massive cost of alternative power sources. our report from berlin. politicians could make this an issue for the next election. >> low powered lightbulbs and tips about using your appliances wisely. germans already pay some of the highest rates for elect -- electricity in europe. things will get pricier. >> electricity bills have gone up dramatically and will go up even more. i'm really worried about people becoming very poor. and it's only going to get worse. >> the government announced the

energy u-turn last year after the fukushima nuclear disaster. it wants the country to abandon nuclear power and turn to renewable sources such as the wind and the sun but the power grid isn't ready. they visited a plant near berlin to see what progress is being made in improving the grid. he says he worries about the short-term finaltial gain but the benefits are great. >> we are explaining the nature of the challenge. but after all, there is quite an impressive public support for the energy u-turn. more than half of the people are in favor of it. >> but there's another number thatening la merkel might need to worry about it. 4/5th of germans might be thinking of their electricity

bill when they choose their next government. if a long, hard winter brings big bills then she might be paying the price as well. >> venezuela has one of the highest murder rates in the world. crime usually spikes in the days leading up to the new year. >> a man brutally disposes of his pregnant girlfriend. the child is miraculously born in the gutter and rescued. only to have his foster father shot on the street a few years later. he grows up to be a drug king pen obsessed with killing and revenge. the feature film is called "caracas." the two faces of life. but it is far from fiction. in this tiny shop, we find the

unlikely director screen play writer and main star of the movie jackson gutierrez. >> the vibration of the shaver produces a light massage that relaxes people and gets them talking about their problems even their darkest secrets. >> the story of one of his clients inspired jackson gutierrez to produce his first short film six years ago with a high end camera. when he put it on the internet, a new career was born. >> my films have a message. you have to respect the festivities an you have to stop killing each other. i want to create awareness among young people who are submerged in crime. gutierrez's actors are former criminals themselves who give him tips on how best to hold a gun. his films are selling like hot cakes all over caracas and his

next movie is to hit major cinemas here. while he's trying to draw attention in venezuela, his movies are not part of the solution, some say. >> he says giving young people a trade, strengthening family values are the key. >> right now, they're stealing motorcycles. if people catch the thieves, they burn them alive. >> we asked the minister what he thinks is causing the violence. >> there are factors like broken families, drugs, weapons and there is also corruption in the police force. they need to fight impunity. it is not just the government but society that has to take responsibility. >> gutierrez agrees as he tries to do his bit by making films that attempt to use vie -